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Frigate Orpheon's portrayal in Brawl borrows several aspects of the original locale and implements it into the stage. The general design is very reminiscent of the frigate as it appeared in Metroid Prime. As well as that, it sometimes experiences power outages, knocking out the lights and therefore making it more difficult to see the position of the platforms. The Parasite Queen is featured inside the reactor core whilst utilizing the same rotating forcefield it used against Samus in the boss fight with it. However, the Queen is merely there for aesthetic reasons; it has no effect on the proceedings of the brawl.

The main element that has been integrated into Frigate Orpheon is the 180 degree flip. The stage actually has two different arena layouts arranged in a vertical column opposite each other, but players are only Brawling on one at a time. Every so often, a loud siren blares out and a bright yellow warning light flashes in the background. This indicates that the stage is about to turn upside down. When this happens, the camera quickly shifts around and the characters fall onto the other layout. The sudden movement can put people in difficult situations depending on their positioning when the flip took place. However, game director Masahiro Sakurai suggested on the Smash Bros. DOJO!! that staying in the air when the alarm is going off will reduce the negative effect that the stage's flipping has on one's character.

The stage layouts are as follows:

The first layout is a basic Final Destination-esque design: a large platform with a flat terrain type. The right third of the platform can be jumped up through, and rises and falls occasionally. There is also a drop-through platform on the left above the main platform. The layout has only one edge located in the left side.

The second layout is slightly bigger. The primary platform has straight edges and a diagonally slanted centre that indents into the arena the downwards direction. A much smaller platform sits above this in the middle. Platforms on the left & right hand sides alternately appear and disappear, making them useful for long distance recoveries.

This stage is usually a counterpick and is sometimes banned in tournaments. This is largely due to the flipping of the stage which can cause unintentional self destructs.

The stage's main difference from other starter stages is that the right ledge is ungrabbable at certain times. This creates a large disadvantage for characters that rely on tether recoveries, such as Olimar and Zero Suit Samus; as well as other characters who rely on the ledge to recover, such as Falco or Link. Frigate's moving platforms can also help characters recover should they be lucky enough to land on it, similar to the Support Ghost on Yoshi's Island.

At the beginning of Metroid Prime for the Nintendo GameCube, Samus Aran received a distress signal from a nearby space frigate. She landed on Frigate Orpheon and soon discovered that the vessel had been utilized by Space Pirates to research the mutagenic substance known as Phazon. While fighting her way through the facility, she also learned that two Parasite Queens escaped confinement (one of which was successfully killed) and forced an emergence evacuation six hours prior to landing. Eventually, she found the reactor core and battled with the remaining Parasite Queen. This stage is based off of this room. In Metroid Prime the player would have to try to aim and shoot her while blue energy shields spun around her. Those blue energy shields can be seen in this stage. After defeating the creature, the reactor reached critical meltdown status and Samus was given just seven minutes to flee the vessel. She managed to escape to her own ship and shortly afterwards, Frigate Orpheon crashed into the planet Tallon IV. For the purposes of the game, this area effectively acted as the tutorial of the controls for players. Later on in the adventure, Samus encounters the remains of the frigate and must fight her way through them in order to gain access to the Phazon Mines.

When the Pokémon Trainer is selected, Frigate Orpheon constructs a new platform for him to stand on in the background, to the right of the Parasite Queen. Also when the stage flips 180 degrees, Pokémon Trainer appears on the new platform by teleporting in a yellow flash, similar to his movement in the Subspace Emissary.

The Parasite Queen, unlike everything else on the stage, is very slow to turn over when the 180 degree flip occurs. For a few seconds following the flip, the half of the reactor core in the background is empty. After that, the Queen somersaults and drops down into view.

This is the only Metroid stage in the Super Smash Bros. series thus far that doesn't involve a hazardous liquid (like acid or lava).

It is also one of two Metroid stages not to take place on Zebes, along with Pyrosphere.

It is possible to be KO'd by the stage while it's rotating; a way to avoid this is to be in the air near the side blast lines when it flips, but sometimes even this doesn't help.